Stressed Over Night Shifts? Follow These Tips To Rejuvenate!

Night shifts can be extremely stressful and can lead to a various health issues. Disturbing the natural rhythm of the body and forcing oneself to stay up all night messes with the natural sleeping cycle. Lack of sleep, in turn, leads to many other health problems including depression, heart risks, obesity, diabetes, etc.

While one can’t completely avoid night shifts, here are a few tips and suggestions to follow in order to cope with the stress:

Ensure good quality sleep during the day – When you return home after a night’s work, it is often difficult to fall asleep as there is a lot of light and sound during the day. A few ways you can tackle this is by using dark coloured curtains for your room and informing your family members not to make much noise. Use can ear plugs. Also make sure not to drink caffeine a few hours before you end your shift. Switch off your mobile phone or put it on silent. If drinking a little bit of wine can help you sleep better, don’t hesitate to drink some.

Stick to the same pattern – One of the reasons why night shift workers experience a lot of stress is because they don’t stick to the same pattern. If you are working from 10 pm to 6 am, stick to the same shift and don’t jump to a 11 – 7 or 12 – 8 shift. When your body follows a regulated pattern of work and sleep, it automatically adjusts itself to make your health better. So don’t change that pattern.

Inculcate a healthy diet – Binging on junk food during the nights can cause a lot of harm to your digestive system and lead to many stomach problems like gas, bloating, acidity and weight gain. Make sure to have healthy food at work, like fruits, low-fat snacks, etc.

Exercise daily – A lot of night shift workers ignore the need to exercise. The most common excuse is that since they are working at night and sleeping all day, there is no time for exercise. But this is an invalid excuse. If you are determined enough, you can always take out an hour before or after work. Ensure your body gets regular exercise to beat the stress.

Get enough rest – While resting your body on weekdays is important, the body needs rest on weekends as well. Don’t stress yourself too much by partying hard over the weekend.

Be emotionally well – Emotional stress is still stress. Try to keep yourself happy by doing things you enjoy. Have a good happiness quotient in your life.

If you still suffer from a lot of stress and have difficulty sleeping well, a sleep apnea test is highly recommended. This test can help analyse your sleeping patterns and will recommend the best ways to get good sleep. For more details about this test, contact us here.